http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=6290489&page=1
In Nebraska, there is a Safe Haven law that allows parents to drop their kids off at a Nebraska hospital without being prosecuted for abandonment. It was intended for people who had infants and weren't able to financially support or take care of them. However, there has been a growing problem with people dropping their children through teenagers off at these hospitals. Also, not only are Nebraskans doing it, people are driving from all over the country to drop their adolescent children off at these "safe-havens." Finally, in the beginning of this month when the number of teens being dropped off rose above 30, an investigation began. Most of these people were in similar situations, having extremely disturbed children and have exhausted all other hopes of helping them. Many of these people still plan on trying to help their children, but in the process of finding them help were too scared they were going to hurt them, their siblings, classmates, or themselves. I can see both sides of this, if my child was a threat, I would have to find him treatment, and many of these families simply can't afford some of the treatment centers because of the poor economy. However, are the parent's t0 blame for the kids turning out the way they have? Shouldn't they take responsibility instead of the easy way out? What happens when they set an age limit for the safe haven laws, which they are in the process of? I think clinics to help these troubled children should lower their prices and allow special cases, insurance companies should also pitch in. I cannot imagine giving up my kid after at least 12 years of raising them, these families need to get help, and I don't think its just the children that need it.
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3 comments:
I think it is terrible that parents would drop their teenagers off at these "safe-havens" I think it is the parents responsibilty to raise thier children properly so they they will not be a threat to themsleves or others. However, if a family is financially unstable, I do understand thier difficult situation. I do not know what the best solution to this problem would be, but I would definitely partially blame the parents for thier children acting the way they do and I dont think it is right for them to just drop thier kids off taking the easy way out.
It is defiantly the parents responsibility in raising their children. I believe that if you can't support a child, either you shouldn't have one in the first place, or do an adoption after it is born. It is a difficult situation because I'm sure that no parent wants to give their child up, but they shouldn't be able to take an easy way out and just drop their kid off somewhere.
I definitely agree that it's the parents responsibility to raise their children, I do, however, understand that there are times and cases where the parents do a great job and their other children turn out just fine, but one is just disturbed for whatever reason. However, even if it isn't the parents fault, they are responsible for their children and like Kelly said, if they aren't ready for the possibility of having to deal with a disturbed child, maybe they shouldn't have had children in the first place. There are other options, personally I am pro-choice, but even those who are not can go through adoption. Abandoning a child, especially a teenager who is already going through stages of puberty and maybe a personality crisis or confusion of who they are or want to be, is just morally wrong. I don't think there is justification for this. Thankfully, this is being done at a hospital who will handle it properly, at least while time permits before restrictions on this safe haven law are put into effect. Once that happens, parents, such as the ones given in this article, will have to find better ways to handle these situations. I think some kind of rehabilitation or juvenile detention centers might be the best alternative here, especially if they truly believe that the child in question poses a threat to them and their family.
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